Services / Legal Advisory
Legal Advisory: Copyright, AI & Defamation
Intellectual property rights are the heart of the entertainment industry. We help you develop, acquire, establish, manage and protect them.
We provide tailored advice on copyright, chain of title, moral rights and performers’ rights, artificial intelligence, defamation, trade marks, passing off, misleading and deceptive conduct, trade secrets and confidential information.
We also assist with due diligence, IP audits, licences and agreements, and advise on how best to manage and use intellectual property through licensing and other strategies.
Talk to us
Tell us about your project, and we’ll talk you through how we can help.
How we help
- Copyright and chain of title advice and opinion letters
- Artificial intelligence: ownership, training data and AI likeness
- Defamation and pre-publication review
- Moral rights and performers’ rights
- Trade marks, passing off and brand protection
- Licensing, due diligence and IP audits
- Confidential information and trade secrets
- Producer Offset legislation under the Income Tax Assessment Act
- Contractual entitlements and Corporations Act advice
- Employment and industrial advice, including MEAA award rates and guild requirements
When to call us
- You are using AI tools in writing, development or post-production
- You are adapting real events or real people
- You are clearing archival footage, music or brands
- You need a chain of title opinion for a financier or broadcaster
- Someone is using your work or brand without permission
Common questions
Who owns copyright in an AI-assisted script?
Australian copyright protects works with a human author. Material generated by an AI tool without sufficient human creative contribution may not be protected at all, which can leave a gap in chain of title. Financiers and E&O insurers increasingly ask how AI was used. We help you document human authorship and check the tool’s terms of use.
What does a pre-broadcast defamation review involve?
We review the cut, script or publication for statements that identify a person and could damage their reputation, assess the available defences such as truth, honest opinion and public interest, and recommend changes or further sourcing before release.
Do I need permission to use real people, footage or music?
Usually. Interviewees and contributors should sign releases, archival footage and music need licences, and some uses of brands and locations need permission. Fair dealing exceptions exist but are narrow, so we advise on each use.
What is a chain of title opinion letter?
A solicitor’s letter, addressed to a financier, broadcaster or distributor, confirming that the producer holds the rights needed to make and exploit the project, based on our review of the underlying documents.